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Oklahoma! [1964 Studio Cast Album] [Expa...

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Highlights from Jesus Christ Superstar [1997 London Cast] by Original Cast Recording/Various Artists

"Highlights from Jesus Christ Superstar [1997 London Cast]" (10/07/1997) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Polydor (USA)Pricipal cast: Steve Balsamo (Jesus Christ); Zubin Varla (Judas Iscariot); Joanna Ampil (Mary Magdalene); David Burt (Pontius Pilate); Alice Cooper (King Herod); Jonathan Hart (Peter); Glen Carter (Simon Zealotes); Peter Gallagher (Caiaphas, High Priest); Martin Callaghan (Annas). Musical personnel includes: Mike Dixon (conductor); Simon Lee (chorus master); Fridrik Karlsson, Paul Keogh (guitar); Andy Lynwood (keyboards); Steve Pearce (electric bass); Ralph Salmins (drums); Keith Fairbairn (percussion); Lee McCutcheon (keyboard programming). Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nigel Wright, Tim Rice. Highlights from Jesus Christ Superstar features 18 highlights from a London revival from the mid-'90s, starring Steve Balsamo, Joanna Ampil and Zubin Varla; Alice Cooper also appears as King Herod. The performances are uniformly solid, and all of the most familiar songs from the musical -- "I Don't Know How to Love Him," "What's the Buzz?," "Could We Start Again, Please?" -- are here, making it a nice sampling for casual fans of the musical. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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Sunset Boulevard [Original London Cast] ...

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Oklahoma! [1964 Studio Cast Album] [Expanded] by 1964 Studio Cast/Original London Cast/Original Soun

"Oklahoma! [1964 Studio Cast Album] [Expanded]" (05/28/2002) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Legacy RecordingsMusic composed by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Principal Cast: Gordon MacRae (Curly McLain); Shirley Jones (Laurey Williams); Rod Steiger (Jud Fry); Gloria Grahame (Ado Annie Carnes); Gene Nelson (Will Parker); Charlotte Greenwood (Aunt Eller Murphy); James Whitmore (Andrew Carnes); Eddie Albert (Ali Hakim); J.C. Flippin (Ike Skidmore). Producer: Fred Hynes. Reissue producers: Didier C. Deutsch, Charles L. Granata. Recorded at MGM Studios, Culver City, California between May & July 1954. Originally released on Capitol (595). Includes liner notes by Didier C. Deutsch & Charles L. Granata. Digitally remastered by Darcy M. Proper (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York). Music composed by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Principal cast includes: Madge Ryan (Aunt Eller); John Diedrich (Curly); Rosamund Shelly (Laurey); Mark White (Will Parker); Alfred Molina (Jud Fry); Jillian Mack (Ado Annie Carnes); Linal Haft (Ali Hakim); Normah Atallah (Gertie Cummings). Recorded live at the Palace Theatre, London, England. Includes liner notes by Clive Hirschhorn. Music composed by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Principal cast: John Raitt (Curly); Florence Henderson (Laurey); Phyllis Newman (Ado Annie Carnes); Jack Elliott (Will Parker); Irene Carroll (Aunt Eller); Ara Berberian (Jud Fry); Leonard Stokes (Andrew Carnes). Recorded at Columbia 30th St. Studios, New York, New York between March 16 & 24, 1964. Originally released on Columbia (2610). Includes liner notes by Richard Ridge. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Liner Note Author: Richard Ridge. Recording information: Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York, NY (1964). Photographers: Don Hunstein; Hank Parker; Bob Cato. Twelve years after it opened on Broadway, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's first musical burst onto the screen in the Todd-AO widescreen process, with a fine cast that included Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Charlotte Greenwood, Rod Steiger, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson and James Whitmore. All the marvellous songs heard in the stage production are here, with the highlights being 'Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'', 'The Surrey With The Fringe On Top', 'People Will Say We're In Love', and the rousing title number. A spell of over four years in the US charts (four weeks at number 1) says it all.

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Fiddler on the Roof [Original London Cas...

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Sunset Boulevard [Original London Cast] by Original London Cast (CD - 11/02/1993)

"Sunset Boulevard [Original London Cast]" (11/02/1993) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Polydor (USA)Music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics written by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. Principal cast includes: Patti LuPone (Norma Desmond); Kevin Anderson (Joe Gillis); Daniel Benzali (Max Von Mayerling); Meredith Braun (Betty Schaefer). Producers: Nigel Wright, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Recorded at The Hit Factory, Abbey Road, Olympic and Air Lyndhurst Studios, London, England between July 26th and August 10th, 1993. Following the relatively intimate and commercially disappointing Aspects of Love, musical theater composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has sought another blockbuster on the order of Evita or Phantom of the Opera in Sunset Boulevard, an adaptation of director Billy Wilder's 1950 film noir classic about the relationship between a cynical, down-on-his-luck screenwriter and a deranged, middle-aged silent-film star. As set to music here, it actually comes off as a cross between Evita and Phantom of the Opera, with an unsympathetic female star at its center and a backstage story. And Lloyd Webber, working with lyricist-librettists Don Black and Christopher Hampton (with three others mysteriously credited in little boxes in the CD booklet for their contributions to the "development" of the show), copies much of the structures of those works, or perhaps has just found a story that has similarities. As in Evita, the female star is contrasted with a wise-cracking man who narrates the story. This time it's Joe Gillis (Kevin Anderson), played by William Holden in the film, which also used the narration (even though Gillis is floating dead in a pool at the start of the movie, which proceeds in flashback). As in Phantom of the Opera, the main character's obsession with a younger prot?g? leads to madness and tragedy. Nor has Lloyd Webber shied away from repeating himself musically. In fact, it is often possible to cite a song from his earlier works he's rewritten here. "Girl Meets Boy" owes something to Aspects of Love's "Love Changes Everything"; "This Time Next Year" is a variation on "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; and, like "Rainbow High" in Evita, "The Lady's Paying" is a celebration of shopping for clothes. Lloyd Webber does evoke Hollywood movie music with one of his recurring themes, and "Let's Have Lunch" is set to a period swing band arrangement. But much of the music is essentially recycled. Happily, the singing actors are excellent, starting with Anderson, who is really the central figure, despite the hoopla surrounding the character of Norma Desmond, the aging movie queen. Anderson's Gillis is not just a musical version of the Holden portrayal; he has a little less of Holden's hard edge, a little more sympathy for the other characters. But he is just as hard on himself. In secondary parts, Meredith Braun and Daniel Benzali are equally impressive. Best of all is Patti LuPone, who, having won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Eva Peron in Evita, knows her way around Lloyd Webber and how to play an anti-heroine. Lloyd Webber has written her some big ballads, the show's best music -- "With One Look," "New Ways to Dream," and "As If We'd Never Said Goodbye." And with her powerful, expressive voice, she navigates them easily. But her acting, documented on a double album full of dialogue, also comes across well, as she fills out the character of Norma Desmond. Again, her portrayal is not simply a singing Gloria Swanson, her film predecessor, but a completely realized, personal portrayal of the deluded star who actually does become at least a little sympathetic by the end. The cast is enough to partially mask Sunset Boulevard's status as second-drawer Lloyd Webber. ~ William Ruhlmann

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The Boy Friend [Original Broadway Cast] ...

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Fiddler on the Roof [Original London Cast] [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] by Original Soundtrack/Herschel

"Fiddler on the Roof [Original London Cast] [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]" (03/20/2001) Pop Vocal Original Soundtrack, Columbia (USA)Music composed by Jerry Bock. Principal cast includes: Topol (Tevye); Miriam Karlin (Golde). Producer: Norman Newell. Compilation producer: Thomas Z. Shepard. Engineers include: Charles Harbutt. Recorded in London, England in Feburary 1967. Includes liner notes by Didier C. Deutsch. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Music composed by Jerry Bock. Lyrics written by Sheldon Harnick. Music adapted and conducted by John Williams, solo violin played by Issac Stern. Principal cast includes: Topol (Tevye); Normae Crane (Golde); Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris); Paul Michael Glaser (Perchik); Michele Marsh (Hodel); Molly Picon (Yente); Issac Stern (Fiddler On The Roof). Compilation producers: Gregg Ogorzelec, Cheryl Pawelski. Includes liner notes by Didier C. Deutsch. Digitally remastered by Ron McMaster. Personnel: Jerry Bock (vocals, piano); Brian Hewitt-Jones, Susan Paule, Jonathan Lynn, Cynthia Grenville, Sandor Eles, Heather Clifton, Caryl Little, Maurice Lane, Linda Gardner, George Little, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Miriam Karlin, Sheldon Harnick, Chaim Topol (vocals). Liner Note Authors: Sherlie Matthews; Didier C. Deutsch; Thomas Z. Shepard. Recording information: London, England (1967). Unknown Contributor Role: Ken Fredette. Long-running Broadway musicals owe much of their continuing success to the replacements who people their casts as the original stars move on, but these performers generally go unacknowledged -- not eligible for awards, passed up for cast recordings. Fiddler on the Roof, which went on to become the longest running musical in history up until then, after opening on September 22, 1964, enjoyed several excellent actor-singers in the starring role of the turn-of-the-century Russian-Jewish dairyman Tevye, starting, of course, with Zero Mostel. In November 1965, the part was taken over by Herschel Bernardi, a 42-year-old veteran who had considerable experience with stage works that, like Fiddler on the Roof, were based on the writings of Sholom Aleichem. Bernardi's portrayal was so strong that it earned him a Columbia Records contract and this recording, on which he sings songs from the show. But that's not all. Joseph Stein, the show's librettist, has written a narration that simultaneously gives the songs context and liberates them from the storyline of the musical. Bernardi has a rich, resonant baritone that allows him to inhabit the songs fully, but he stops short of actually playing Tevye. With new, pop-oriented orchestrations by Peter Matz, this is a vocal album, not a cast recording, but it offers an illuminating gloss on the show. Bernardi even sings two songs from the score not heard on Broadway. The amusing, if irreverent "When Messiah Comes" was cut for time during tryouts, and "Fiddler on the Roof," based, like "Tradition," on the familiar "Fiddler's Theme," was written as a promotional pop song and even became a minor hit for the Village Stompers. This album was also a minor hit, entering the charts in the fall of 1966 and reaching the Top 100 in some rankings. It deserves to be better known. ~ William Ruhlmann Fiddler on the Roof first opened in 1964 in New York. The story of a Jewish milkman who lives in Russia with his family (including three daughters), the original Broadway cast starred Zero Mostel as the milkman. Anti-Semitic notions abound as Tevye and his family find themselves being forced from their village. Tevye's daughters break from their village's "tradition" as they marry for love, not for prosperity. Throughout all of this, a symbolic fiddler lingers over them. Fiddler on the Roof was a notable success, with the original Broadway cast running for over 3,000 performances. It was also the origin of several famous and now-standard songs, such as "Sunrise, Sunset," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," "Tradition," and "If I Were a Rich Man." The music is beautiful, and haunting at moments. This highlights recording has all of the major hits. ~ Sarah Erlewine Originally released as a double-LP set and now on one CD, the gold-selling soundtrack album for the screen adaptation of the long-running Br

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The Boy Friend [Original Broadway Cast] by Original London Cast/Various Artists (CD - 08/01/1989)

"The Boy Friend [Original Broadway Cast]" (08/01/1989) Pop Vocal Original Cast, RCA Victor Records (USA)Composer/Lyricist: Sandy Wilson. The Boy Friend is billed on the cover of the original Broadway cast album as "a musical comedy of the 1920s," which is not the same thing as being a musical comedy actually written and produced in the '20s; in fact, composer/lyricist/librettist Sandy Wilson's show originated as a pastiche of '20s musicals like No, No, Nanette for the delectation of members of a London theater club in 1953, then was expanded for a West End production and finally imported to Broadway starting on September 30, 1954. Wilson knew his sources well, and the songs heard here have obvious antecedents to the work of Jerome Kern, Rodgers & Hart, No?l Coward, and Irving Berlin. The cast has been replaced entirely from the London version with a combination of British and American performers. There are also other changes from the first cast recording issued in the U.K. by HMV Records. The piano/bass/drums trio that served as accompaniment has been replaced by the 13-piece jazz band Paul McGrane & His Bearcats, and the score has lost one song ("It's Nice in Nice") and gained two ("The 'You-Don't-Want-to-Play-with-Me' Blues" and "Safety in Numbers"), which were actually in the British production but didn't fit onto the 10" LP. (Also due to the time restrictions on the short HMV recording, the versions of the songs that are common to both albums are given more complete performances on the Broadway disc.) But there are really two main differences. First, while the London cast clearly had their tongues in their cheeks, the New York one is playing things a bit straighter. It's not that they are investing the deliberately lightweight, formulaic material with any real conviction, just that they are performing it as if it were a real period show, without emphasizing the three decades that have ensued since the '20s. Second, the ing?nue is played by 19-year-old Julie Andrews in her Broadway and American recording debut. Her warm, precisely articulated British voice makes an immediate impression in the title song as well as "I Could Be Happy with You" and the Coward-like "A Room in Bloomsbury," marking the emergence of a major talent in the musical theater. With these advantages, the original Broadway cast recording of The Boy Friend is actually an improvement on the London version. ~ William Ruhlmann The Boy Friend, billed as "a New Musical Comedy of the 1920s," was actually an affectionate parody of 1920s musicals written in the early '50s by Sandy Wilson for the Players' Club in London and first put on there in 1953 before being expanded for a five-year run in the West End that began on January 14, 1954, and led to numerous revivals and overseas productions. The cast recording was undertaken by HMV Records, which issued a 10" LP running about 26 minutes. That recording fell out of copyright 50 years later, and Sepia Records has promptly issued its own unlicensed version here. But the CD runs more than 76 minutes. The additional material includes two medleys of the show's songs recorded contemporaneously by the London Orchestra, plus examples of the kind of music The Boy Friend's score was making gentle fun of: pop recordings of songs from such musicals as Rodgers & Hart's The Girl Friend and Vincent Youmans' Hit the Deck and No, No, Nanette that were made in the '20s. So, the musical style remains the same throughout the disc, although the types of arrangements and sound quality change. The 14 tracks from The Boy Friend feature only Stan Edwards' piano and uncredited bass and drums as accompaniment, while the additional 16 tracks employ big band and string arrangements. At the same time, the relative clarity of the 1954 recordings gives way to the '20s tracks, made just after the onset of the electrical era of recording, when sound quality was still somewhat iffy. Thus, there's a big change at track 14, and another at track 17. There is also a difference of tone. However affectionate the cast may be toward the far-off days of the '20s, they are at a comic remove from the era, performing material that caricatures it. (Note, for

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Into the Woods [London Cast] by Original...

Hair [Original London Cast] by Original ...

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Into the Woods [London Cast] by Original London Cast (CD - 05/28/1991)

"Into the Woods [London Cast]" (05/28/1991) Pop Vocal Original Cast, RCA Victor Records (USA)Composed by Stephen Sondheim. An excellent recording of the Sondheim classic. ~ William Ruhlmann

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Whistle Down the Wind by Original Cast R...

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Hair [Original London Cast] by Original London Cast (CD - 03/06/2001)

"Hair [Original London Cast]" (03/06/2001) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Decca (USA)This reissue is a compilation of the two Original London Cast recordings, HAIR (1968), and FRESH HAIR (1970). Original score composed by Galt McDermott. Principal cast includes: Oliver Tobias, Gary Hamilton (Berger); Paul Nicholas (Claude); Diane Langton, Lisa Kendrick (Jeanie); Joyce Rae, Annabel Leventon (Shelia Franklin); Peter Straker (Hud); Paul Burns, Michael Feast (Woof); J. Vincent Edwards (Vince); Marsha Hunt (Dionne); Sonja Kristina (Crissy); Producers: Norrie Paramor, Brian Drutman, Denis McNamara. Recorded at C.T.S. Studios and Chappell Studio, London, England between October 13, 1968 and May 31, 1970. Includes liner notes by Peter Knight Jr. The London production of Hair followed relatively closely on the New York production, opening in the West End on September 27, 1968, only five months after the Broadway premiere. And even though the show would have seemed quintessentially American (it was, after all, "the American tribal love-rock musical"), it transplanted well, running even longer. The original London cast album also replicated the success of the original Broadway cast album, peaking in the U.K. Top Five. The recording took the same approach as its American counterpart and was similarly filled with expressive performances, notably those of Paul Nicholas as Claude and Oliver Tobias as Berger, replacing lyricist/librettists James Rado and Gerome Ragni. Some elements couldn't quite be replicated. Nicholas, who was actually British, of course, tried for an American accent rather than copy the deliberately phony Cockney accent Rado had affected in "Manchester, England," which missed the point of the song, and elsewhere the cast's British accents sometimes undercut the specifically American subject matter. ("Manchester, England" did not appear on the original album, but was on Fresh Hair, a second volume of songs recorded a year after the opening, just as DisinHAIRited had been for the U.S. production. In 1993, when Polydor undertook a CD reissue, it added all of the Fresh Hair tracks to the original album.) But the score remained an alternately giddy and anguished collage of slogans, pronouncements, pleas, and excerpts from Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln, all set to catchy pop/rock. This version was slightly updated -- "Initials" mentioned the newly elected "Tricky Dick" instead of LBJ -- but it was still focused on the issues of interest to the late-'60s youth movement, so timely that it necessarily dated quickly. The 1993 reissue (released in the U.S. in 2001) was the most complete recording of the score yet assembled. ~ William Ruhlmann

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Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert ...

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Whistle Down the Wind by Original Cast Recording/Original London Cast (CD - 09/21/1999)

"Whistle Down the Wind" (09/21/1999) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Really Useful RecordsMusic composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics written by Jim Steinman. Principal cast: Marcus Lovett (The Man); Lottie Mayor (Swallow); Dean Collison (Amos); Veronica Hart (Candy); James Graeme (Boone). Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nigel Wright. Recorded at Whitfield Street Studios, London, England and Skratch Studios, Surrey, England. Includes a 40 page booklet with complete lyrics. Personnel: Chris Howard, Jean Reeve, Giovanni Spano, Carol Duffy, Phylicia Dyers, William Parker , John Turner , Adam Coleman, Jason McCann, Dean Collinson, Craig Parkinson, Vikki Coote, Hannah Cooper, Reg Eppey, Sara West, Ashley Andrews, Walter Herron Reynolds III, Zalika Henry, Paul Lowe, Anthony Cable, Jason Green, Jim Graeme, Tony Stansfiled, Laurel Ford, Nicolas Colicos, Marcus Lovett, Danielle Calvert, James Muir, Tosh Wanogo Maud, Lee Honey Jones, Ricki Cuttell, Dean Clish, Rohan Tickell, Veronica Hart, Rosalind James, Lottie Mayor, Jack Shalloo, Sam Gillam, Rhys Maxwell, Michael Samuels, James Nesbitt, Louise Claire Marshall, Mark Powell, Gerard Bentall (vocals); Andrew Holdsworth (guitar, banjo); Fridrik Karlsson (guitar); Dermot Crehan (violin, electric violin); Lorraine McAslan, Oliver Lewis (violin); Justin Pearson (cello); Andrew Findon (flute, piccolo, tenor saxophone); Jamie Talbot (clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone); Dave Lee (horns); Peter Adams (piano, keyboards); Katherine Rockhill, Matthew Hill (keyboards); Ralph Salmins (drums, percussion); Lee McCutcheon (programming). Recording information: Skratch Studios, Surrey, England; Whitfield Street Studios, London, England. Directors: Gale Edwards; Paul Garrington. Photographers: Ivan Kyncl; Sasha Gusov. The cover of the original London cast album of Whistle Down the Wind bears the names of its composer and lyricist in equal-size type above the title: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman. This marks the first time since Lloyd Webber's partnership with Tim Rice dissolved that a lyricist has been given equal billing on a musical with one of his scores, and perhaps not coincidentally, it's his best score in a long time. Steinman, most widely known for his writing and production work with Meat Loaf, puts his stamp on this music, not only in the forceful, rhythmic lyrics, but seemingly, on the music as well. It's easy, listening to such songs as "Tire Tracks and Broken Hearts," "A Kiss Is a Terrible Thing to Waste," and "Off Ramp Exit to Paradise," to imagine Meat Loaf or another big-voiced Steinman client singing them. In part, this is because Whistle Down the Wind is Lloyd Webber's most rock-oriented score since Jesus Christ Superstar. It's a shame that the composer has spent so much of his career writing watered-down opera pastiches since he's much more assured writing rock-styled music and '50s-ish pop melodies like the title tune here. Effective as the music is, however, Whistle Down the Wind remains an odd subject for a musical, which may help explain why it had trouble succeeding on-stage, with a nine-week 1996-1997 Washington, D.C., run closed down and a Broadway opening canceled before the show was retooled and began a long run in London on July 1, 1998. Based on a novel about a group of children in Lancashire who come to believe that an escaped convict hiding in their barn is Jesus Christ, it is essentially a character study with a spiritual tone and as such needs a delicate treatment like the one it got in director Bryan Forbes' 1961 film starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates. Unaccountably, the setting has been relocated to rural Louisiana, and since the cast album is a two-CD set containing the complete version, the listener must sit through a lot of dialogue spoken by British actors, many of them children, trying unconvincingly to sound like American Southerners and playing out the unlikely plot. Lloyd Webber is such a mogul that the album has been released on his own label, which gives him the power to put it out in this format, but he would be far better served by a single-disc highlights album that collected all the best songs -- those already mentioned

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Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert by Original London Cast (CD - 07/23/1996)

"Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert" (07/23/1996) Soundtracks Original Cast, Red Ink Records (USA)Principal cast: Colm Wilkinson (Valjean); Philip Quast (Javert); Ruthie Henshall (Fantine); Jenny Galloway (Mme Thenardier); Alun Armstrong (Thenardier); Lea Salonga (Eponine); Michael Ball (Marius); Michael Maguire (Enjolras); Judy Kuhn (Cosette); Anthony Crivello (Grantaire); Adam Searles (Gavroche); Hannah Chick (Young Cosette). Performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - David Charles Abell, conductor. Recorded live at The Royal Albert Hall, London, England on October 8, 1995. Includes liner notes by Alan Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Cameron Mackintosh, Edward Behr, Herbert Kretzmer, Trevor Nunn, and John Caird. Originally conceived as a simple recording production, Les Miserables evolved quickly into one of the premiere theater events of the 1980s. Theatrically on par with Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis is drawn from the Victor Hugo novel of the same name. The story chronicles the life of Jean Valjean, a simple Frenchman arrested as a youth for stealing a loaf of bread. After serving five years for that crime, as well as an additional 14 for attempted escape, Valjean is released on parole. Upon changing his name and eluding his parole officer, he becomes the surrogate father of a young girl and a Mayor as the French Revolution sets in. As the war rages, he finds that he cannot change the man he is. Les Miserables is typical of theater in the '80s, with extravagant effects and large, full-cast numbers. The beautiful score is full of emotion and humor, including such memorable and noteworthy songs as "Look Down," "Do You Hear the People Sing?," "Bring Him Home," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," and the ubiquitous "On My Own." In 1995, a tenth anniversary concert was performed at Royal Albert Hall, combining members of the original cast, including Colm Wilkinson and Michael Ball, as well as Lea Salonga (the original Kim from Miss Saigon). Fully enjoyable, it may not be the best compilation of the music available, but it is definitely a worthwhile listen. ~ Sarah Erlewine

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The Pacific Overtures [Original London C...

No?l and Gertie [London Cast] by Origina...

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The Pacific Overtures [Original London Cast] [CD Highlights] by Original Soundtrack/English National

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The Biograph Girl: A New Musical by Orig...

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No?l and Gertie [London Cast] by Original London Cast (CD - 04/22/1997)

"No?l and Gertie [London Cast]" (04/22/1997) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Jay RecordsRecording information: EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England (09/28/1986). In April 1981, No?l Coward biographer Sheridan Morley "devised" an "entertainment" called No?l and Gertie as a benefit for the Combined Theatrical Charities Council, and it was performed at the May Fair Theatre in London, England. It was a musical revue constructed out of songs and excerpts from the writings of Coward, some of which, in their initial presentation, had been performed by him with actress/singer Gertrude Lawrence. A commercial production of the revue ran for a month in London in 1983, and the third mounting, at the Donmar Warehouse (in the London equivalent of off-Broadway), for another month in 1986 with Lewis Fiander as No?l and Patricia Hodge as Gertie. That production was recorded for this cast album. It is a small undertaking, just Fiander and Hodge and a piano, and consists mostly of Coward's songs, although there are portions of his London Times obituary of Lawrence, and the tenth track, the cockney music hall romp "Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?," includes some of the dialogue for the Red Peppers playlet in which the song appeared, as part of the play cycle Tonight at 8:30, in which Coward and Lawrence co-starred in 1936. (There is also a bit of Shadow Play, another playlet in the cycle.) Fiander and Hodge are actually better singers, technically, than Coward and Lawrence were, and they bring enthusiasm to such Coward favorites as "Mrs. Worthington" and "Parisian Pierrot." ~ William Ruhlmann

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Bless the Bride [London Cast] by Origina...

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The Biograph Girl: A New Musical by Original London Cast (CD - 10/17/2000)

"The Biograph Girl: A New Musical" (10/17/2000) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Jay RecordsMusic composed by David Heneker. Lyrics written by David Heneker and Warner Brown. Personnel: Sheila White, Bruce Barry, Ron Berglas, Sally Brelsford, Helen Brindle, Michelle Fine, Philip Griffiths, Jane Hardy, Richard Kates, Tano Rea, Kate Revill. Recorded at PRT Studios, London, England on December 9, 1980. Digitally remastered by John Yap.

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Oklahoma! [1980 London Revival Cast] [Ja...

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Bless the Bride [London Cast] by Original London Cast/Lizbeth Webb (CD - 07/14/1995)

"Bless the Bride [London Cast]" (07/14/1995) Pop Vocal Original Cast, AEI

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Oklahoma! [1980 London Revival Cast] [Jay 1997] by Original London Cast (CD - 02/01/1997)

"Oklahoma! [1980 London Revival Cast] [Jay 1997]" (02/01/1997) Pop Vocal Original Cast, Jay RecordsMusic composed by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. Personnel: Jillian Mack, Patricia Bennett, Rosamund Shelley, Mark White, John Diedrich, Madge Ryan, Mark White, Alfred Molina (vocals). Recording information: Palace Theatre, London, England; The Palace Theatre, London, England. Directors: Ray Cook; John Owen Edwards . Photographer: Reg Wilson. Unknown Contributor Role: Robert Russell Bennett. James Hammerstein, son of lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, directed a Broadway revival of Oklahoma! that opened in late 1979, and its success led to similar productions in London and Australia. Hammerstein directed the British staging, which opened at the Palace Theatre in London September 17, 1980, and, with a run of 419 performances, was even more successful than its New York counterpart. Surprisingly, the cast recording was contracted out to Stiff Records, best known as a new wave rock label, and probably on economic grounds, Stiff opted to record the show live at the theater. The result is a sonically challenged recording. Clearly, the players were not wearing body mikes, and so their voices move up and down in volume depending on where they are and what they're doing. No apparent concessions have been made for audio recording, and the orchestra, which of course was stationary, is often louder than the singers and drowns them out; they are also drowned out by the audience on occasion. The only performer who overcomes the sound problems is big-voiced lead John Diedrich, playing Curly, and so his numbers, such as "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top," do not suffer as much. It is also good to hear the portions of dialogue that precede and interrupt the songs, and to hear a live audience cheering and laughing. But these qualities do not overcome the recording's shortcomings, making this one of the less impressive of the major recordings of Oklahoma! ~ William Ruhlmann

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Evita [Original Studio Cast] by Original...

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Evita [Original Studio Cast] by Original London Cast/Original Soundtrack (CD - 09/24/1996)

"Evita [Original Studio Cast]" (09/24/1996) Pop Vocal Original Cast, MCA Records (USA)This is the first released version of Andrew Lloyd Weber's EVITA. It was recorded as a concept album before the first stage production of the musical, and differs slightly from the Original Cast Recordings which followed. Personnel includes: Julie Covington, Colm Wilkinson, Paul Jones (vocals); Anthony Bowles (conductor); London Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded in London, England. All songs written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. All songs have been digitally remastered. Principal cast: Julie Covington (Eva Peron); Paul Jones (Juan Peron); C.T. Wilkinson (Che); Tony Christie (Magaldi); Barbara Dickson (Mistress); Mike Smith (Dolan Getta); Mike d'Abo (sidekick); Christopher Neil (Eva Peron Fund Manager). Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice. Recorded at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, England between April and September 1976. Digitally remastered from the original 2-track masters by Glen Meadows (Masterfonics, Nashville, Tennessee). Original score composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Tim Rice. Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice. Reissue producer: Brian Drutman. Recorded in July 1979. All tracks have been digitally remastered. The original 1976 studio recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's EVITA is still considered by many fans to be the best. The album was recorded before the musical was adapted to the stage, and as a result it contains songs and lyrics that were later changed or edited out of the score. Even more interesting is the sound here, which blends Broadway theatrics with rock music (much like Lloyd Webber's other famous collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR), a sound that was also modified in later versions. Excellent performances, especially from Julie Covington as Eva Peron, distinguish this excellent recording, making it a must for fans of the musical and Lloyd Webber's work in general.

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$22

Carmen Jones [1962 Studio Cast] by Origi...

The Threepenny Opera by Original London ...

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$7

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Carmen Jones [1962 Studio Cast] by Original London Cast/Original Soundtrack/Grace Bumbry (CD - 08/12

"Carmen Jones [1962 Studio Cast]" (08/12/2003) Soundtracks Original Cast, DRG TheaterOriginal cast includes: Grace Bumbry (Carmen Jones); George Webb (Joe); Ena Babb (Cindy Lou); Elizabeth Welch (Frankie); Thomas Baptiste (Husky). Originally released as World Record Club Ltd. ST (181). Liner Note Author: Peter Gammond. Illustrator: Miguel Covarrubias. Arranger: Bobby Richards. Oscar Hammerstein II's adaptation of Bizet's opera Carmen into the 1943 Broadway musical Carmen Jones produced an original cast album and a 1954 soundtrack album. This 1962 studio-cast recording starring American opera singer Grace Bumbry in the title role, recorded in London with British performers, was only the third version on record in nearly 20 years, and it appeared long before the show was actually given a U.K. stage production. Employing the New World Show Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Alwyn, it is a very musical version, emphasizing Bizet's music over Hammerstein's English lyrics. Bumbry, who had sung the original Carmen in opera houses, bows very little to the modernized version, giving no particular emphasis to the words, and she is joined in this operatic interpretation by co-stars George Webb as Joe, and Ena Babb as Cindy Lou. Elisabeth Welch, a veteran of stage and screen in Britain, gives Frankie a more earthy interpretation in "Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum," and Thomas Baptiste as Husky Miller sounds more like a musical-theater performer on "Stan' Up and Fight." Bumbry, Webb, and Babb cannot be faulted as opera singers, but it's hard to see the point of performing Carmen Jones as though it was Carmen; the whole idea of the adaptation was to humanize the story. ~ William Ruhlmann

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